1. Chinua Achebe

2.  “I believe in the complexity of the human
story, and that there‟s no way you can tell
that story in one way and say, „this is it.‟
Always there will be someone who can tell
it differently depending on where they are
standing … this is the way I think the
world‟s stories should be told: from many
different perspectives.”

3.  “Although I did not set about it consciously
in that solemn way, I now know that my
first book, Things Fall Apart, was an act of
atonement with my past, the ritual return
and homage of a prodigal son.”

4.  In an interview in the 1994-95 issue of The Paris Review,
Chinua Achebe states that he became a writer in order to
tell his story and the story of his people from his own
viewpoint. He explains the danger of not having one's
own stories through the following proverb: "until the lions
have their own historians, the history of the hunt will
always glorify the hunter." Critics and Achebe's own
essays have portrayed Things Fall Apart as a response
to the ideologies and discursive strategies of colonial
texts.

5.  Chinua Achebe is one of the most well-known
contemporary writers from Africa. His first novel, Things
Fall Apart, deals with the clash of cultures and the violent
transitions in life and values brought about by the onset
of British colonialism in Nigeria at the end of the
nineteenth century. Published in 1958, just before
Nigerian independence, the novel recounts the life of the
village hero Okonkwo and describes the arrival of white
missionaries in Nigeria and its impact on traditional Igbo
society during the late 1800s.

6.  He also fiercely resents the stereotype of
Africa as an undifferentiated "primitive"
land, the "heart of darkness," as Conrad
calls it. Throughout the novel he shows
how African cultures vary among
themselves and how they change over
time.

9.  Balance of traditional masculine and
feminine values
 Continual and inevitable change
 The dynamic between the individual and
society
 Irony (situational)

10. Chapters 1-13

11.  Okonkwo: (Oh-kahn-kwoh)
 Protagonist – main character
 Clan leader in Umuofia
 Good warrior and farmer
 Doesn‟t want to be thought weak like his father so
he over-compensates
 Nwoye: (Nuh-woh-yeh)
 Okonkwo‟s oldest son
 He is a sensitive boy (likes to listen to mother‟s
stories)
 Okonkwo thinks he is weak like Unoka

12.  Ekwefi: (Eh-kweh-fee)
 Okonkwo‟s second wife
 the mother of Ezinma, her only living child.
 Ezinma: (Eh-zeen-mah)
 Daughter of Ekwefi
 Okonkwo‟s favorite daughter
 Okonkow often wishes she had been a boy

13.  Ojiugo: (Oh-jee-ooh-goh)
 Okonkwo‟s third and youngest wife
 Okonkwo beats her during the Week of Peace
 Obiageli:
 Daughter of Okonkwo‟s first wife
 Unoka: (Ooh-no-kah)
 Okonkwo‟s father
 Weak and irresponsible

14.  Ikemefuna: (Ee-keh-meh-foo-nah)
 Given to Umuofia by another village
 Village has Okonkwo keep him
 Lives with Okonkwo‟s first wife
 He and Nwoye become very close
 Okonkwo actually kills him after Umuofia decides
to have him executed

15.  Obierika: (Oh-bee-air-ee-kah)
 Okonkwo‟s close friend
 Often a voice of reason
 Maduka:
 Obierika‟sson
 Wins a wrestling contest
 Okonkwo often wishes Nwoye were more like Maduka
 Nwakibie:
 Wealthy clansman in Umuofia
 Lends Okonkwo 800 seed yams to help Okonkwo
get his start

16.  Chielo: (Chee-eh-loh)
 Village widow; priestess of Agbala
 Has a close relationship with Ekwefi and Ezinma
 Calls Ezinma “my daughter”
 Agbala:
 Oracle of the Hills and Caves

17.  Okagbue Uynawa:
 Medicine man
 Okonkwo consults him when Ezinma takes ill
 Okagbue Ezeudu:
 Oldest man in village; highly respected by clan;
 tells Okonkwo to have no part in Ikemefuna‟s
death;
 dies in chapter 13

18.  a. How does Okonkwo make a living?
 b. Why does Okonkwo dislike his father?
 c. How did Ikemefuna come into
Okonkwo‟s village?
 d. What character traits does Okonkwo
value most?
 e. Who is Nwoye?

19.  1. Okonkwo‟s desire to be strong,
wealthy, and respected comes from both
his cultural experience and his feeling
about his father. Which affects him more?
Note passages from the novel.
 2. What is ironic about Okonkwo‟s
feelings for Ikemefuna, compared to his
feelings for Nwoye?

20.  3. What can you tell about Okonkwo‟s
character from his participation in the
death of Ikemefuna? Explain.
 4. What feature of Okonkwo‟s character
persuades Nwakibie to give him the seed
yams?
 5. The exposition of a novel provides the
reader with important background
information about the characters, their
setting, and their problems. How is the
scene in which Okonkwo visits his friends
Obierika a vital part of the exposition?

21.  6. Explain the most influential role that a
woman holds in the Umuofian village.
 7. When a man says yes his chi says
yes also. Explain the concept of chi.
What is the meaning of this traditional
proverb? Do you think this proverb
continues to offer wisdom or present
truth? Why?

22.  a. Why does Ekwefi become bitter about
life?
 b. Who do the egwugwu represent?
 c. Why have Mgbafo‟s brothers taken
back their sister from her husband?
 d. An ogbanje is a child who repeatedly
dies and returns to its mother‟s womb.
How can humans overcome this cycle,
which the Ibo consider wicked?

23.  e. What announcement does Chielo
make, and where does she take Ezinma?
 f. What joyous ceremony takes place the
day after Chielo‟s announcement?
 g. Who is killed at the funeral of Ezeudu?

24.  1. How does the story of Okonkwo‟s
relationship with Ekwefi and Ezinma develop
his character in a direction not previously
seen in the novel?
 2. Ekwefi tells Ezinma the story of the
tortoise and what happens when he tricks
the birds at their feast. What might this story
symbolize about Okonkwo?
 3. Ekwefi defies the priestess by following
her and Ezinma to the Oracle‟s cave. What
traits that the Ibo associate with masculinity
does this behavior reveal?

25.  4. When a child accidentally lets loose a
cow, the child‟s parents uncomplainingly pay
a heavy fine. What conclusion do you draw
from this about the Ibo way of life?
 5. Situational irony occurs when what
happens is the opposite of what is expected
or appropriate for a given situation or
character. What is ironic about Okonkwo‟s
crime and his banishment to Mbanta?
 6. How does Okonkwo‟s best friend Obierika
justify his participation in the burning of
Okonkwo‟s compound?

26. Chapters 14-25

27.  Uchendu
 Okonkwo‟s uncle (on mother‟s side)
 Houses Okonkwo during Okonkwo‟s 7-year exile
 Mr. Kiaga
 Native convert who arrives in Mbanta
 Converts Nwoye and others

28.  Mr. Brown
 First missionary to Umuofia
 Non-aggressive and shows respect toward Igbo
beliefs
 Befriends tribal leaders, builds a school and
hospital.
 Akunna
 Leader in Umuofia
 Discusses religion with Mr. Brown
 Inadvertently shows Mr. Brown that working with
Igbo belief instead of against it will work best in
Umuofia (not a frontal attack)

29.  Reverend Smith
 Missionary who replaces Mr. Brown
 Sees the world as “black and white”
 More aggressive and does not respect any Igbo
belief
 Represents the stereotypical white man in Africa
 Enoch
 fanatical Christian convert to the Christian
 Rips off the mask of an egwugwu during a
ceremony to the earth goddess

30.  The District Commissioner
 An authority in the colonial government
 Stereotypical racist colonialist; shows no respect
to the African culture while assuming he fully
understands it
 Desires to write a book about the African
traditions

31.  In Part One we were introduced to an
intact and functioning culture. It may have
had its faults, and it accommodated
deviants like Okonkwo with some difficulty,
but it still worked as an organic whole. It is
in Part Two that things begin to fall
apart. Okonkwo's exile in Mbanta is not
only a personal disaster, but it removes
him from his home village at a crucial time
so that he returns to a changed world
which can no longer adapt to him.

32.  Okonkwo's relationship to the newcomers
is exacerbated by the fact that he has a
very great deal at stake in maintaining the
old ways. All his hopes and dreams are
rooted in the continuance of the traditional
culture. The fact that he has not been able
gradually to accustom himself to the new
ways helps to explain his extreme
reaction.

33.  a. What is the relationship between
Okonkwo and Uchendu?
 b. What point does Uchendu make in his
speech to Okonkwo?
 c. Why did the whites kill the villagers of
Abame?
 d. Something about his native culture
troubles Nwoye deeply, and the Christian
Church gives him comfort. What is
bothering him?

34.  e. Where do the Mbanta elders give land
for the Christian Church?
 f. What convinces Mbantan converts that
the church is powerful?
 g. Why are the Christians ostracized by
the clan the week before Easter?
 h. How does Okonkwo show his thanks
to Mbanta at the end of his seven year
exile?

35.  1. One of Okonkwo‟s nicknames is “Roaring
Flame.” What do you think this metaphorical
name means? How do you interpret
Okonkwo‟s thought, “Living fire begets cold,
impotent ash”?
 2. How do the names Okonkwo choose for his
children born in Mbanta reflect his feelings
about his exile?
 3. In the book, find an example of flashback
that shows the relationship between white
newcomers and African natives and an
example in which this relationship is indicated
through foreshadowing.

36.  4. Mr. Kiaga decides that the church will
accept the clan‟s outcasts. What philosophy
does this reveal, and how does this explain
the success of the Christian church in
attracting African converts?
 5. How does the fact that there is no
punishment in Ibo law for intentionally killing
a python reveal the theme of the
relationship of an individual to the
community?
 6. Uchendu says, “An animal rubs its itching
flank against a tree, a man asks his
kinsman to scratch him.” Explain what this

37.  a. Who are Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith?
 b. How does Chukwu differ from chi?
 c. What sacrilege did Enoch commit?
 d. What did the clansmen do that made
the District Commissioner summon them
to his headquarters?
 e. What did Okonkwo‟s family notice after
he returned from the District
Commissioner‟s headquarters?

38.  f. How much did the District
Commissioner fine the villagers? How
much did the villagers pay? Why?
 g. Why could clan members not remove
Okonkwo‟s body from the tree?
 1. Okonkwo plans to make the villagers
take notice when he returns to Umuofia.
What does this attitude reveal about
Okonkwo‟s character?

39.  2. The white man came quietly and
peaceably with his religion. We were
amused at his foolishness and allowed him
to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and
our clan can no longer act like one. In your
own words, restate Obierika‟s point and explain
the significance this has to the idea that “things
fall apart.”
 3. Compare and contrast Mr. Smith and Mr.
Brown.
 4. How does Okonkwo know that the villagers
will not fight the British?

40.  5. Why do you suppose Okonkwo kills the
messenger?
 6. In the last paragraph of the novel, the
point of view shifts although the narrative
is still in third person. Whose point of
view is shown in this paragraph, and what
is the tone (attitude of the writer to his
subject)? Why do you think Achebe
makes the shift?
 7. How is Things Fall Apart a tragedy for
both a society and an individual?

41.  Achebe's purpose in telling the stories of
festivals and weddings, the relationship of
Ekwefi and her sickly, beloved daughter
Ezinma, and her wild night with Chielo, the
Priestess of Agbala is to make us realize
just how full and complex was the life of
the Igbo villages before contact with the
British, and how much was lost by the
falling apart of that village civilization.

42.  But Achebe is even-handed in his stories of
traditional Igbo life, and he includes troubling
elements, such as the throwing away of twin infants
into the evil forest, the sacrifice of Ikemefuna to
atone for a murder he did not commit, and the story
of Okonkwo's exile for a murder committed not by
him, but by his gun that exploded during a funeral,
killing one of the sons of the dead man. In short,
Christianity was able to gain a foothold among the
Igbo precisely because there were already problems
within the traditional culture. Christianity made
especial inroads among alienated and unhappy
people, such as Nwoye, Okonkwo's son.
 http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/achebestudy.htm